Athlete excels with, without prosthetic

PALMER — Being born without her left forearm hasn’t stopped 15-year-old Helena Grace Miller from living an active, involved life.

Soon to be a sophomore at Palmer High School, Grace came to the United States at age 3, when her mother, Kymberly Miller, adopted her from China. That year, Grace got her first prosthetic.

“When she was little, she used to hold it behind her so kids wouldn’t grab it, because it looked mechanical,” Miller said.

“It was mainly the boys,” Grace said. “They were really curious about it and wanted to touch it all the time, which was really annoying.”

So annoying, her mother said, that Grace started telling her second-grade classmates her arm was bitten off by a grizzly, in her effort to get them to leave her alone.

But things are different now. First of all, Grace and her classmates are older. They know each other better, and they know the real story (or lack thereof) about Grace’s prosthetic arm.

“The nice thing about … growing up in Palmer is that I’ve been with these kids now since pretty much preschool, so, they all know about me and I don’t have to explain it over and over again,” she said.

And now she has a new prosthetic, one so realistic it’s hard to notice at first glance. Manufactured by the German company Ottobock, the “speed sensor hand” is “the only prosthetic hand that can catch a Frisbee,” Miller said. The myoelectric arm responds to electrical signals generated naturally by Grace’s muscles to move the hand.

Though expensive — think tens of 1,000s of dollars — it’s been worth it.

“I like it a lot, I can do a lot more,” Grace said.

Like gripping a ski pole. When Grace started skiing at age 4, she only used one pole, and for those familiar with classic skiing, the difficulty is easy to imagine.

Now, with her first year of high school behind her, Grace is already an accomplished hurdler, trumpet player and Nordic skier. She placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles at the region III championship this year, downhill skis with Challenge Alaska and practices with Alaska Nordic Racing on rollerskis during the summer months.

“She’s just awesome, I mean talk about work ethic,” said Mikey Evans, head ski coach at Palmer High and former ANR coach.

Not that Grace really needed the prosthetic arm to excel in sports. It helped her balance while learning to ride a bike, and has helped her make huge improvements in skiing recently, but it wasn’t something she felt like she needed to fill a void.

“I’ve never treated her like she was handicapped and she’s always kinda risen to the challenge. She’s been able to do just about everything,” Miller said.

And it’s difficult to imagine Grace not trying everything, with Miller’s 20 years as a mountaineer guide, years as a law enforcement ranger in Hatcher Pass, 15 years of piloting experience and medical career as an orthopedic nurse at Providence Alaska Medical Center.

Amputee Coalition camp

Between Grace’s school sports background and her extracurricular endeavors — she took three years of swim lessons, completed the 15-mile Bomber Traverse at age 10 and attended a horse camp at Solid Rock Bible Camp until she was 9, for example — it’s no surprise she’s been accepted to Amputee Coalition Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp in Clarksville, Ohio.

Grace left this morning for camp, where she will spend six days with 114 other campers from across the country who have “limb loss” or “limb difference,” according to a press release.

The six-day summer camp for youth ages 10-17 offers fishing, swimming, zip lining, canoeing, basketball, archery and more. It is held at the Camp Joy Outdoor Education Center in Clarksville. The Amputee Coalition covers all expenses and airfare for the campers, and aims to inspire participants to “take on new challenges, be independent, test themselves and build new friendships.”

“Everybody there has an amputation of some kind, and you know, it’s just nice being around people that have a similar thing about (them),” Grace said.

And even though Grace, as one of two Valley girls attending the camp this year, is the more outgoing, she still appreciates socializing with similarly abled people at camp.

“I always feel more confident after I go because you know you have a whole support team … they’re with you and they know what you’re going through,” she said.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.